Godly Right to Name First-Born Son Spyridon

Uh-Oh, I signed the petition, not realizing that by doing so I was supporting the name Spyridon.. It will always be misspelled and no one will know how to pronounce it. Please remove my vote!!

What's with this concern to be the same?? To have a name like Michael or John that everyone can pronounce? So if the average American can't pronounce it, then it's not a good name? Let's open up our minds a little. Spyridon (Spiros) is a great name and everyone arguing for Michael so it's more mainstream needs to learn about culture and history. Side note: my brother's name was Spiros and he was the most popular kid throughout all his schooling...all the way up to his MBA.

As a mother and grandmother, family traditions are very important. I hope and pray first, that your new baby is healthy, and second that your wife will agree to name your (son?) after his grandfather with the father's name as the middle name. It's a beautiful Greek name and one to be proud of. The name Michael is over used, (sorry any Michaels out there) and not outstanding enough to carry your last name.

Nichols has given many concessions to honor his wife's wishes - - mom has 50% chance of naming child (if girl....but the father was the one who "selected" the gender....X vs Y sperm) - mom gets full naming rights on subsequent male children - mom gets to pick middle name (I lot of kids end up using their middle name if they hate/dislike their first) Argument against dad is......no teacher will ever pronounce/spell his name correctly on the 1st day of school. Dad has changed my original opinion and I have to side with him.

I understand you want to name your boy after your father but in this day and age think of your son when he goes to school - the teasing, tourment etc he is going to through - there are other greek name for boys that are so nice and your wife will agree with - this is the gift to you and your wife and both of you have to be happy with the name.- Michael is on the greek boys name list

I totally agree with you. To many traditions are thrown out in the world today and it is sad to lose the heritage. I think it is nice to have history and tradition in your name. What John is saying is actually wrong because the traditon is that if you have a girl the name is to follow the WIFE'S mother's name. The first boy is the father's father the second is the mother's father. The first girl is the mother's mother and the second is the father's mother. If you follow the tradition it is fair to everyone in honoring your parents/famlies! Not being Greek but marrying into a Greek family we followed this and I said "OK I get to pic a name if we get to number 5 - unless we have 3 of the same sex". It has worked out fine even with only two boys!!!

Spyridon and Spiro is so old fashioned. Find another way to honor your family. Michael is timeless and he'll thank you later when he knows how close he came to being called Spyridon. Whenever I hear that name I think of "pimple" - spiri in Greek. Don't do this to the poor kid!

Yep, Michael Spyridon would be the more appropriate way to go. They live in the U.S., and it's the great melting pot of the world...but...having a less ethnic first name would be a bonus. He most likely won't be picked on as much over using Michael as Spyridon.

First of all, the baby is probably a girl. Second, Spyridon Michael has a better ring to it than Michael Spyridon. Third, they can call the son Mischa. And last but not least, I'm glad they aren't going to name him "junior".

My cousin is named Pagonis Spyridon (first two names but I always call him by his nickname, Akie). His grandfather and father. Mine is Danae Iouannou (Diana John for the non Greeks). I do have to explain many times that yes my middle name is John...and it's Greek and traditional and my father's name and so on. I LOVE it! It educates a lot of folks on Greek history/traditions and opens up conversations about their own traditions with their heritage. I have learned much about other cultures just because of my own name. I say name the baby Spyridon (Spyro) Michael...pronounced Speeroh...and your lovely wife will learn to love that name. Two strong cultures with Greek and Russian. Hah...let the bullies come at him about his name! No way anyone will bully that young man with that strong a heritage standing behind him. I also think that if it is a girl that the mother should name her. Sounds fair.

Spyridon for the WIN.

I think the name is unique the world needs more unique names. I'm on dad's side.

"Dum spiro spero"." Пока живу- надеюсь." Spiro (Spiridon?)- is a "life", жизнь. Хорошее имя.

Being a mom to 4 sons and each given an unusual or unpopular name at the time of their birth, I will have to side with the mother to be.. "Michael" is not used these days. Michael Nicholas Soukeras . That is a strong Male name. To make my case stronger I looked up both names... The meaning of Michael is "who is like God?". Biblical: Michael is the archangel who defeats the dragon. He and Gabriel are angels given personal names in the canonical Bible. In the Middle Ages, Michael was regarded as captain of the heavenly host and patron of soldiers. He was often depicted carrying a flaming sword, and sometimes guarding the gates of Paradise. Many saints, emperors, and kings have borne the name, Nicholas as you probably already know is of Greek origin, and the meaning of Nicholas is "people of victory". Biblical: one of seven "qualified men" in the first-century Christian congregation. Saint Nicholas (fourth century) is known as the patron saint of Greece and Russia, children, scholars, sailors, and pawnbrokers, and (via his Dutch name, Sinte Klaas) the original Santa Claus. Five popes and two emperors of Russia have borne the name. Whatever you choose the outcome will still be the birth of a precious baby... I have seen and heard all kinds of names being a retired Labor and Delivery Nurse... But I do side with Mom on this one...

Your parents gave you the nice name Nicholas but having lived in the US with an Irish name which nobody can pronounce or spell you are intentionally making your sons life more difficult. Often when people would see my name they assumed I was African . To be honest - this sounds more like an ego thing 'that your son is more yours than hers'. Michael is a good neutral name and if you want somebody to have an unusual name - why don't you take it yourself?? Siobhan

She shouldn't have married a Greek if she didn't want kids with Greek names. Any Greek worth his air on this planet would honer the tradition of the first born. I am afraid this man is going to have a hard time. Russian, East European woman tend to be very stubborn and superficially modern.

for belarusian people Spiridon is a strange name.... Kseniya is waiting for baby 9 month, she will give a birth to their first son and I think she have rights to choose a name . . .

Mr. Nicholas Constantine Soukeras, I dearly hope you take the time to read my points below: 1. Associations tell a lot about a person. When I hear “Michael” first thing that comes to my mind is Michael Jackson, second – Michael Jordan. If your first association to that name is Mischa Barton, then you must watch a lot of soft porn, my friend. No doubt, you enjoyed "Virgin Territory" and the other films of that sort. Secretly watched them, didn’t you? Away from your wife, of course. 2. Your petition fails to bring one single argument in support to the name Spyridon being appropriate in modern 21-st century society. Why? Because it’s not. It can by historic, it can be melodic, honoring, anything BUT modern. The name is a joke. Why not call your child Prometheus or Zeus for that matter? I doubt examples of a 1960s American Nixon opponent and a 1920s Russian cook (both of whom left no mark in history) are indeed a sign the name Spyridon was used by “highest and most honored officials”. It wasn’t. The name is rare, and I agree with you, you need to do quite an extensive Google search to find any successful men who bore that name. 3. It is embarrassing to witness how a married man decides to publicly disgrace his spouse, and express annoyance to her country, its history and traditions. Calling out to her “Soviet childhood”, the inability of a Russian ear to distinguish “sweet, musical sounds of Greek nomenclature”, and her apparently insignificant 8-year presence on American soil is first and foremost putting a shame on you, Nicholas Constantine. You have made your attitude towards Belarus very clear. A country, which as you put it, does not even deserve to be called a “Republic”. I am positive you are drawing a comparison between your home country and Belarus, making sure your spouse never forgets that she comes from a second sort “Barbaric” country, as opposed to one created by the “brilliant minds of Ancient Greeks”. Please tell me, dear Nicholas Constantin

I like both names. My brother-in-law is named Michael and he is wonderful. But I signed the petition for you because I also like the name Spyridon. I have been to Russia and love her people and I have attended the Greek fest several years here in my America city and adore every minute I spend with the people from Greece. So there you have it. But more than anything my own name is somewhat out there and I have enjoyed being one of the few with my name. Spyridon would certainly get to put his own identity into his name in the 21st century. Thanks for letting us be a part of your family discussion and I know God will lead you together to the right name for your blessed baby.

Spyridon used to be as common as Michal in Belarus before the Soviet Union, but as many names was stereotyped as old fashioned in XX century maybe because of the soviet system with a set of standards including standards on names . Nowadays, Belarus kids have so many names of Greek origin. As I know Kseniya also derives from Greek. So what is the difference between one Greek name and the other? Who decides that one is cool and others names are not? Michail or Michal isn't originally Belarusian either. But it has been common since Christianity. By the way, Spiridon Sobal was one of the Cyrillic book printers in the 17 century in Belarus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiridon_Sobol Just yesterday I met a person with the name Spiro, which sounds very noble to me. I also know one boy with the same name from the Russian-speaking family in Canada. I hope it will help.